Take it or Leave It
by Evil Asch
Summary: Norman Jayden, notorious misanthrope and supreme pain in the ass. Armed with the delicate touch of a sledgehammer and the dogged determination and closure rate of of a force of nature he's presented with a high profile case all but guaranteed to end with more questions than answers. It's up to Jayden to find another misanthropic pain in the ass in the wilds of Washington, Alan Wake
1. The Only Man for the Job

"Norman, goddamnit of all the days to be late." His supervisory agent growled as Jayden slipped into the bullpen.

"You're lucky I came in at all -"

"I know just...my office now."

Jayden frowned but followed. Sara Robins was the best supervisor he had ever had so he didn't argue or give her his usual helping of shit. When they arrived in her office he understood her attitude. Samuel Mathews, section head, sat in front of her desk looking impatient.

"Jadyen, about time, is this your usual style? Showing up fashionably late?"

"My apologies sir I -"

"Forget it. Robins will fill you in on the details right now all you need to know is you're going to Washington in an hour. You're going to be the profiler on this Alan Wake business."

"Ah yes sir." Jayden said trying not to appear too surprised.

"You have a go bag son?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, then go." Mathews growled and left the office.

"Ma'am?"

"Don't ma'am me asshat. Listen, Mathews hates you. Ever since that shit with the Mars case you've been on his shit list. I guarantee this assignment was not his idea so do not fuck it up. Cover your ass and at least _try_ not to piss off every person you meet, okay?"

"Field work?"

"You'll have local back up."

"Right, I had local backup in Philly too."

"Jayden, what's done is done. You passed your re-qualifications for field work. You can do this. More importantly you'll have ARI 3.0. Find Wake and get back here okay?"

"ARI 3.0? I didn't think it was field ready."

"You'll meet your support agent at the airport, from there you'll go to the Seattle office and get set up with ARI and then head to Bright Falls. By all accounts its a wide spot in the road, survives largely on tourism, hunting and sport fishing for the most part. This mess started during the height of their tourist season so not only are the townspeople and their town beat to hell by this storm but they're facing economic ruin as well. Tread lightly Norman."


	2. Awkward Meetings

Norman's local support was a veteran agent a woman named Natalie Wren. She informed him that in addition to Wake an ex-Agent Robert Nightingale was missing and according to preliminary reports from the local sheriff he had been unstable and violently fixated on Wake prior to the storm.

"Fucking great."

"I knew him, briefly, he didn't seem like the kind of guy to get violent with a suspect."

"What about an innocent bystander?"

"I -"

"Stupid question. How did you meet him?"

"Uh just in passing really, he and his partner were nicknamed the Righteous Brothers, the straightest arrows to ever carry Bureau I.D."

"So what happened?"

"Ask your magic box."

"I'm asking you." He snapped.

She gave him a blank look then started talking again. "His partner...lost it. He was put on medical leave and then he just disappeared. Nightingale didn't take it well he started drinking on the job."

"So eventually he ends up in Bright Falls chasing Alan Wake and making insane accusations while taking pot shots at the locals that get in the way. That's a hell of a lot more than a problem with alcohol."

"Agreed."

"What do you think happened?" He asked.

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. Why don't you boot that thing up and check his personnel file?" She asked and gestured at the steelcase Jayden was holding on his lap.

"I need to calibrate it, how long until we reach Bright Falls?"

"Two hours, maybe longer if the roads are still fucked up."

"Shit, we'll have to stop then, this takes an hour to boot and calibrate."

"Why didn't you do it at the field office?"

"Because calibrating ARI makes the user look like a lunatic and takes more room than the average office or cubicle can provide."

"You waited so you wouldn't look like an asshole?"

"I am an asshole. I waited because there wasn't room and the last thing I need is your field office fucking around and delaying support because they thing I'm an asshole and incompetent. Trust me, when you see the calibration process you'll understand. I'd suggest bringing popcorn but you don't seem the type to enjoy it in the first place."

"Why are you such a dick anyway Jayden?"

"Why are you a people pleaser? We are what we are."

"That's horseshit."

"You're a profiler and you don't think people follow patterns?"

"I don't think they can't break them."

"Of course we can't that's why we follow patterns and fall back into bad habits and do stupid predictable shit. We think we do, we try like hell too but..it's always a lie. A surface truth. The person underneath the act? That doesn't change, even if their behavior does."

"You're a seriously depressing guy."

"I just know people."

"I don't want to know the people you know."

"You already do, you know what it means to be human? Two things, to be human is to be lonely from day one until you hit the dirt for the last time and being human means lying to yourself about yourself."

"I can see why you have such a positive reputation."

He didn't reply.


	3. The Longest Drive

An hour later they were heading back to the car as Jayden slipped ARI's interface gloves into his pocket.

"Do you really believe that?"

"What?"

"That being human is to be a lonely liar?"

"You don't?"

"Don't do that, don't answer a question with a question." She snapped.

He glanced at her and smirked.

"You didn't answer." He said and opened the passenger door of their loaner.

"You first smart ass." She snapped and got in. She waited to start the car staring at him.

"We're going to be late."

"I'm not taking your shit Jayden. You get off on your own bad reputation. Maybe you like knowing everyone you meet is going to hate you, maybe that's some kind of fucked up security blanket for you, I don't know but it ends here dickhead. Answer. My. Fucking. Question."

"Yeah, I do. Think about it Wren, when do you feel the loneliest? In the rain at midnight on some anonymous street corner or in the middle of a crowd of people you supposedly know? Sentience in and of itself marks us as separate from each other we can never be anything but alone because we're alone in our heads at all times. And the lying? Well hell, how the fuck else does anyone get through day without screaming?"

She started the car without replying and pulled away.

Half an hour into the drive Jayden closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Natalie glanced at him as he dozed. He was handsome, brilliant, but so damaged it was breathtaking. She had made a point of getting a friend in records to give her access to his personnel file before they left Seattle. He as fit for the field according to the file but she wondered if he had ever shared his theory of humanity with the mandated certifying psychiatrist.

She had an hour of driving ahead and god knew how much legwork after that. She sighed and popped open the center console and pulled out a huge energy drink. She popped the tab and downed a third of it then jammed it into a cupholder.

"Those things will kill your kidneys." Jayden said without opening his eyes.

"Back to sleep creepy." She growled.

He opened one eye and glanced at her then sat up and straightened his tie.

"So what's your story? Pull the short straw?"

"I was assigned the position."

"Oooh very politick."

"Do me a favor psycho, shut your mouth unless its case related, okay?"

"Fine, nothing personal but that goes both ways."

"Deal."

They were silent for a few minutes.

"Did you feed your box the case files?"

"Yes."

"Any results?"

"No."

"How do you know?"

"See these nifty glasses?" He asked tapping the frame of his sunglasses. "They're part of the interface. I'll receive a notification when the churn is executed. I've also fed her everything we have on Wake, Alice Wake, Barry Wheeler, and anyone else involved."

"Oh. Good."

"I'm good at my job Wren, whatever else I am."

"Nothing personal." She grunted and wondered if there were any speed traps between them and Bright Falls.

Jayden slumped in his seat and allowed his eyes to unfocus and close, resting them as ARI's data feed continued to unspool on his glasses.

ARI, his muse and curse. He knew it was safer now, built in safeguards, health checks...whatever. He didn't care whatever risks were still present were worth it if it meant he could swim in the oceans of data ARI was capable of capturing and analyzing.

When the steady graphic of data on the glasses changed to a solid blinking graphic he opened his eyes and read it.

DATA ANALYSIS COMPLETE: BLINK TWICE TO DISPLAY AGGREGATE FINDINGS

He blinked twice and waited.

AGGREGATE ANALYSIS:

SIMILAR EVENTS:

JAKE FISCHER

CLAY STEWARD

ELLEN ADAMS

"ARI, download the files to my I.D. any results regarding Wake?" He said, his voice startling Wren after a half hour of apparent sleep.

"That's going to get creepy fast."

Jayden laughed and pulled the glasses off.

"During the initial field trials they sent us out solo. Now we always have a partner."

"The Origami Killer, was that during the trial?"

"Tail end of it." He said tightly.

"I...sorry I guess that's -"

"You can ask about the case Wren."

"How did you put the pieces together? At the end? And how did you know you could trust Mars?"

"Trust Mars?"

"I read the file."

"And?"

"And there's no way he just walked out of that interrogation room."

"Weird shit happens in the field, especially when corrupt cops are involved in obstructing a federal investigation."

"Right, so the guy that thinks we're all miserable liars trusted a stranger enough to risk his own freedom and career?"

Jayden just watched the road whip past.

"Fine." She sighed.

"Look, that whole station was a beehive of murderous incompetence. While I was there I witnessed cartoonish incompetence, the blatant sadistic abuse of prisoners and the violation of every right possible. They were renegades at best."

"None of which means you didn't help Mars."

"True." He admitted.


	4. Depths

They arrived in Bright Falls after midnight. Sheriff Breaker was out in the field and the handful of deputies still conscious were still up to their armpits in the chaos that had enveloped their town. Wren and Jayden were handed two boxes of files and promised a call from the sheriff first thing. Hustled out with a harassed 'Goodnight' by a young deputy Jayden regarded the sheriff's office with bemusement as he gripped one of the two boxes.

"Recommendation?"

"Get a room. ARI still has to chew through a good chunk of data and we have some reading of our own to do."

Wren felt they should be doing more but she had to admit there didn't seem to be much else they could do. So she adjusted her grip on her box and lead the way back to their car.

The only hotel in Bright Falls proper was a claptrap shithole dubiously titled, The Majestic. Jayden went to arrange rooms while Wren parked the car and began to gather their things. Jayden returned cursing under his breath.

"What's the problem sunshine?" She asked.

"There's only one room left."

"Oh."

"He'll bring a cot."

"Flip you for the bed?" She suggested.

"I'll take the cot tonight, we can trade off." He sighed. He was so tired from the long trip that was sure he would sleep just fine on the cot. Besides, she would be driving them tomorrow so he wanted her rested and sharp.

She didn't argue too tired or too wise to even start that particular pissing match. The room was decent and, true to his word, the manager brought in a cot that looked comfortable enough once it was unfolded and made up.

She showered and was dressed in practical pajamas and in bed with the light off forty-five minutes after they arrived. Jayden took a long hot shower of his own, long enough that when he left the bathroom he could hear her light fluttering snores. Smiling he checked to make sure ARI was charging and dressed for bed. He normally only wore boxers and maybe a tank top to bed, but he had experienced shared living quarters on previous cases so usually packed pajama bottoms just in case.

He stretched out on the cot and let his exhaustion take the place of his usual sleeping pills.

She woke sometime before dawn and experienced the inevitable confusion of waking up in a strange place. Once her senses settled and her memory flooded back she relaxed and wondered what had woken her in the first place.

Then Wren heard it, a low gasping sound, her imagination immediately conjured an image of a landed fish. She shook her head then sat up and tried to locate the source. She was sleepily startled to see Jayden's cot then her still ragged memory filled in the blanks.

He was on his back and the sound, she now realized, was coming from him. She turned on her bedside lamp and slipped out of the bed. She approached him worried that he might be choking. His face was pale and sweaty, his hair wet though she assumed he had showered before bed.

As she approached the choking noise ceased and he seemed to relax. Not convinced, worried he might have simply stopped struggling and passed out, she reached out to check his pulse. Before she could touch him he started to mutter.

"No...no….not now...no." She pulled her hand away and frowned.

People that were choking couldn't speak, it was one of the ways to tell a true choking victim from someone that had confused their lungs with gills. As she watched his face twisted into something between fear and rage, he raised his hands as though warding something or someone off.

"No don't ...don't let go...don't…" He said, his tone was so plaintive, so needy that she shivered and almost woke him then and there. She remembered a bit of lore she had picked up as a child. Her cousin, Liam, had been a sleepwalker. She remembered her mother and Aunt Clara discussing the ailment during an afternoon visit. Aunt Clara had been adamant that the worst thing to do was wake the sleeper.

"_It will only panic and frighten him. The best way is to simply take him in hand and return him to bed."_

So, should she wake Jayden or leave him to his dreams? What if, she wondered, they were memories? Was he recalling the Mars case? Something else? What kind of life resulted in a man like Norman Jayden anyway? Probably not a happy one.

Jayden lowered his hands and seemed to be sleeping normally. She waited a few seconds to be sure then started the careful journey back to her bed in the unfamiliar room.

Then he sat up and screamed.

As the oldest of four siblings Wren was fairly used to the wide range of noises a human being is capable of. Happily for her state of mind and mental stability she had never heard a noise like the one coming from Norman Jayden, half yipping shriek of fear and half defiant roar it somehow morphed into a bone chilling noise that spoke of pain and fear on a primal level. It took all her willpower and training not to bolt from the room.

She immediately started back to him only for the awful cry to cut off as quickly as it had started. Heart in her throat and eyes wide she walked to his side again. He appeared to be innocently asleep. She waited to a count of 90 then gave up and went back to bed.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Wren woke first and quietly showered then dressed. She couldn't remember if Liam was as rested on nights he had an episode of sleepwalking as he was on a normal night so she wasn't sure how rested Jayden was. Considering his scream in the night she assumed more sleep would be better. Once she was dressed she decided to wake him. She could review the abstracts Jayden had generated and printed the night before while he got ready. She checked her phone then Jayden's and didn't see any missed calls or text messages.

"Hey, wake up." She said gently and shook Jayden's shoulder. The older agent woke slowly eyes fluttering they finally opened and he focused on her then blinked hard and sat up. He was lean but strong looking rather than simply underfed. He rubbed at his eyes and coughed, a harsh wet cough, and put his feet on the thin carpet of the hotel room. He held his head in his hands as though exhausted or suffering a severe headache.

"You okay creepy?" She asked.

She heard him chuckle, he dropped his hands and looked up at her. She was caught off guard by his remarkable good looks again.

"I'll live." He said briefly then rose and walked to his suitcase. He moved with an athletic ease, pale skin gliding over visible muscle. He had a few scars though they did not mar his beauty.

"I'll go over the abstracts -"

"We need food, see if you can find out what's open around here." He said around a huge yawn as he walked into the bathroom.

She focused on the abstracts first. She needed a better grasp of the local issues and history before she ventured into town. If she wasn't prepared she might miss something key. She was on the last abstract when she heard the shower turn off. She realized that she hadn't seen Jayden bring any clothes in with him. As Wren was moving to put the paperwork away the bathroom door opened.

He wore a towel low around his waist. He paused in the doorway as she stared at him. "Learn anything?" He asked as he ran a towel over his short damp hair.

"Uh yeah - yes. This Jake Fischer, he disappeared the night the Wake's arrived in town."

"He also had a history of instability and was taking a mood stabilizer."

"It's still worth a look."

"Agreed but we should try to pick up Wake's trail first."

"Right, I'll see what I can find out about breakfast. Back in ten." She said while maintaining careful eye contact. She excused herself and walked to the main office.

"Hello?" She called as she entered. A boy appeared from behind the desk.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh well sure, I guess, do you know where we could get some breakfast?"

"There's the Oh Deer Diner in town but I don't know if it's open."

"Thanks kid, guess we'll find out."

As she was returning to the room her phone rang.

"Wren."

"This is Sam Mathews."

"Ah uh good morning sir -"

"What's your status agent?"

"We're still tracking down the local Sheriff, Jayden has a good handle on a spate of similar cases -"

"Sounds good and Agent Jayden? How is he?"

"Sharp sir, he has ARI up and running."

"You keep an eye on that bastard Wren. He never should have been reinstated you watch your ass. If he gets flaky you call me directly and report it."

"Yes sir, thank you for the notice sir."

"Find Wake and there's a promotion in it for you." He said and hung up.


	5. Locals

Jayden was silent as they made the short drive into the battered heart of Bright Falls. Wren was preoccupied with thoughts of her call from Mathews.

"You got a phone call." Jayden said as they arrived at the sheriff's office.

"Leave it alone Jayden." She snapped and got out of the car.

He smiled as he got out and closed his door. He watched her approach the entrance her body language stiff and angry, defensive. He followed her deciding he would let her take lead.

"Is Sheriff Breaker available? We're here -"

"Feds for Wake, yeah hang on." A tired looking deputy sighed and pressed an intercom.

"Sheriff it's the feds."

"Send them in." A tired female voice replied.

"Right this way." The deputy said and lead them back into a long hallway and finally to a break room.

A woman in her mid thirties dressed in a rumpled uniform with bags under her eyes greeted them. Jayden studied the sheriff as Wren took lead and introduced them. He decided she was younger than he had assumed, maybe late twenties. Her bearing gave her an authority that belied her age, coupled with days of extreme stress and likely grief it was easy to see why he had overestimated her age.

"You're welcome to pitch in. I need you to understand that Wake isn't the only missing person and we fully expect to find more dead than alive. It's been days since the storm hit, between likely injuries and exposure the odds of finding any survivors is slim."

"Understood Sheriff, I'm sure you can understand our position -"

"What about Jake Fischer?" Jayden asked. Wren glanced at Jayden in annoyance.

"I'm sorry?"

"Or Ellen Adams or Clay Steward?"

Breaker slowly shook her head.

"No one knows what happened to them Agent Jayden, I wish we did. You're welcome to review all our records and what little evidence we managed to collect. If you'll excuse me I have to get back to work. My deputies have been on shift for more than twenty-four hours, I have to start cutting them out which means admitting to them and my town that we're not going to save anyone else."

"We'll keep out of your way." Wren said sympathetically then took Jayden's arm and physically pulled him out of the break room.

He jerked his limb free and glared at her.

"Never touch me again." He snarled.

She went very still, evidently realizing she had made a massive error, then licked her lips, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have touched you. That was unprofessional. Listen, you were right I got a call from Mathews. He...he says you never should have been reinstated. He's after you."

"I know." Jayden said taking a shaky breath.

"I'm not going to sell you to him Jayden."

"Don't do me any favors." He snapped and waved at the deputy that had taken them to Breaker.

"Jayden we don't have to be enemies -"

"Don't, we're not partners Wren. You're my minder maybe you'll be my Judas but we're not partners. I told you they used to let ARI operators out solo? Do you know the real reason they started insisting on partners?"

"I don't fucking care Jayden, honestly I don't I just want -"

"Because ARI, the first ARI? It made us crazy Wren, it gave us incurable permanent neurological symptoms, at least, the ones it didn't kill. So don't make the mistake of thinking you're here to _investigate_ you're here to make sure I don't stroke out or strip naked and head for the hills." He snarled in a low voice.

"How can I help you agent?"

"I need access to your file room and physical evidence."

"Uh, okay, sure this way."

"When you've assisted my partner do you have time to go over a few things with me?"

"Ah yeah, sure I guess." He said while glancing over at Breaker. She was still in the break room talking on a handheld radio.

Jayden wasted no time digging into the files and feeding the data to ARI via the glasses he wore. He paused long enough on each page for ARI to take a photo, convert it and begin analysing before moving onto the next. He found suspicious gaps and missing files almost right away. He made a thorough sweep of the files which took an extra two hours then asked the deputy where the local library / chamber of commerce / city records were kept. Unsurprisingly they were in the same building.

"You may want to talk to Pat Maine too, he runs the local radio station. I don't know if he'll know anything recent or have documents for you but he's the best thing we have for a local historian." The deputy suggested.

Jayden thanked him and left. He still wore the ARI glasses and used the ocular interface and whispered commands to order ARI to do a broad database scrub and first level analysis of the new information. Ideally it would identify and discard mundane links. In a small town there were bound to be a significant number of connections between residents and visitors.

He didn't see the attacker until it was nearly too late. He was focusing on ARI and with no reason to suspect violence in the tiny town still reeling from tragedy he had let his guard down. As he stepped off the sidewalk curb and moved toward their loaner a man dressed like a logger charged him.

Jayden registered the assailant and fell into a defensive stance while reaching for his sidearm. The attacker was too fast. He crashed into Jayden with enough force to knock the lean agent to the concrete. The bulky logger went down with him. As Jayden hit the concrete he heard something snap and his right hand go numb and rubbery. The logger's weight landed on him hard enough to knock the wind from him. If he didn't turn this around in the next few seconds the logger was likely to kill him.

He wrapped his legs around the man's hips and tore him away, he shifted and wriggled until he loomed over the logger then reached for his weapon again with his left hand. The draw was awkward and clumsy and the logger lunged up with unexpected strength knocking the weapon flying. Jayden let out a curse and headbutted the bigger man. The first blow barely stunned him so Jayden nailed him twice more. Seeing stars himself he managed to untangle himself from the lunatic and stagger after his weapon.

He bent and picked up his weapon and turned to face the logger. The man was on his knees, blood pouring from a broken nose and a cut on his forehead. Jayden raised his weapon with his left hand and managed to use his right to steady it.

"Stand down I'm a federal agent!" He shouted.

The logger charged him again and Jayden fired. His head was swimming but his aim was true. Three shots made a neat triangle in the center of the logger's chest. He took two more steps then collapsed in a heap.

By then deputies were charging out of the office with Breaker on their heels and Wren on Breaker's. Jayden took one staggering step then sank to his knees.


	6. Concession

Jayden's vision was graying out at the edges as Wren took a knee next to him and steadied him. Two deputies were examining the logger, Jayden had no doubt the man was dead. He leaned forward, the ARI glasses falling to the ground, and vomited.

"Just keep breathing Jayden, you're safe, it's over -"

"I think I have a concussion." He rasped wiping at his mouth with his left hand.

"Got a call out for Doc Nelson."

"His wrist is broken." Wren said and glanced up at the logger's corpse. The man was huge, easily over six foot and built like a beer keg.

"..worse…" Jayden slurred.

"Hey stay awake okay? Call me names if you have to but don't pass out, the local sawbone is on the way. Come on Norman." She growled.

He shook his head and tried to stand up.

"Help me." She snapped at the nearest deputy. Together they got Norman to sit on the curb of the sidewalk.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Wren asked the deputy. It was the same man that had helped Jayden with the archives.

"I've never seen him before." The deputy said and began examining Jayden's wrist.

"You have medical training?"

"I was a part time EMT in my last job." He said and released Jayden's already swelling hand to examine his pupil reaction.

Wren looked up at the sound of squealing tires. An old sedan, all slab sides and huge flat plains of steel had stopped suddenly in the parking lot. As she watched a wiry old man with sharp eyes got out and hurried over with an honest to god black leather doctor's bag. As the man knelt he introduced himself.

"Doctor Nelson, pleased to meet you, Wayne how's he doing?"

"Pupils are good, definitely a broken wrist, possibly some breaks in the hand as well. I suspect early signs of shock."

"Symptoms?" Nelson asked and used his stethoscope to listen to Jayden's pulse.

"Nausea, trembling, weakness -"

"Right, young man, I'm not entirely happy with your heartbeat, I need you to calm down, take a few deep breaths okay? Now I'm gonna give you some aspirin, it won't do much right now for your pain but it'll help avoid clots from those breaks."

He handed Jayden two pills which he dry swallowed and Deputy Wayne and Wren got Jayden to his feet and inside. Breaker retrieved Jayden's ARI glasses and directed her people to cordon off the scene and take photos of everything.

She returned to the break room. Nelson had sat Jayden on a couch and was continuing his exam.

"Well, he'll live but he's been worked over pretty hard. Cracked ribs, sheer miracle they aren't broken. Probable bruised lungs, your stamina is going to take a hit son, mild concussion, broken wrist and bruised hand but all in all you're very lucky. That big bastard could have killed you."

"Yeah...that's me...lucky…" Jayden said faintly.

"Agent Wren, could this have recorded the attack?" Breaker asked.

"It's capable of it but I don't know -"

"Let me check." Jayden said and reached for it.

Nelson clicked his tongue at the movement as he was trying to tape Jayden's ribs. Jayden ignored the physician and accepted the glasses from Breaker.

He put them on and reached for his coat to retrieve the interface gloves. ARI 3.0 was almost entirely functional without them but the gloves allowed him to interact with and sample the environment. He didn't trust the ocular interface at the moment, at least not his part. As ARI came to life he gestured to turn off the ocular interface and rely strictly on the manual.

"Okay bear with me I'm going to look like a lunatic for awhile." He said softly and winced as Nelson tied off the bandage around Jayden's torso.

"This is going to hurt like hell Agent. I understand you're pressed for time but I have to tell you, again, that if I set your wrist without X-rays there could be permanent side effects."

"Just get me back on my feet doc." Jayden panted as he tried to draw a full breath with his ribs taped.

Nelson sighed and returned to his work as Jayden used gestures to access and scroll through ARI's video record. Generally ARI only recorded when directed to do so, in some cases as a safety it would auto-record. Jayden tried to remember what would trigger a recording but couldn't find the information through the fog of the concussion. He gave up and focused on what he was doing.

"-Jayden?"

"What?" He asked irritated.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Nelson asked. Jayden sighed and pulled off the ARI glasses.

"Two." He said shortly and put the glasses back on. Nelson glanced at Wren, he was holding up one finger.

"Norman -"

"Just let me find - There." He said. For whatever reason ARI had started recording as the logger was knocking Jayden to the ground.

"Sheriff, our techs can provide a complete copy -" he broke off, pulled the glasses off and rushed to a trashcan. He vomited again though there was nothing to throw up anymore, dry heaving he tried to catch his breath.

"You need a hospital son, this is more than a concussion -"

"I'll be fine for half an hour just...let me get this to Sheriff Breaker." He gasped as his stomach rebelled again.

"Jayden, I can contact the techs in Seattle to pull the footage from the cloud, listen to the doctor."

He waved her away and gestured for the glasses. She sighed and handed them over. He put them on and resumed where he had left off, though he remained crouched over the trashcan.

"Okay Wren it's in your inbox." He sighed and took the glasses off.

"Good, you, hospital, now." She growled. Wayne and Nelson accompanied him in a cruiser with lights and sirens flashing.

Once Jayden was on his way Breaker and Wren reviewed the footage of the fight. Most of it was nonsensical and useless but it was clear that Jayden had been jumped, it had also recorded Jayden retrieving his weapon and ordering the attacker to stand down only for the man to charge.

"Well, I think it's safe to say he acted in self defense."

"Why the hell was he attacked in the first place?"

Breaker looked troubled but didn't reply.

"Sheriff, level with me, what the hell is going on here? I've seen the sat images of the damage to your town, unless a team of angry tornadoes attacked the damage wasn't caused by a normal storm."

"You're here to find Wake, worry about that." Breaker sighed.

"Sheriff, my partner was nearly killed, I need to know why."

"You're loyal to him?"

"Yes." She lied. It wasn't Jayden she was loyal to it was the Bureau and her duty to him as her partner, it was her duty to him as a fellow human being.

"Come on, you should see something."


End file.
